Ashes and Skies
by SparkleMoose
Summary: Nico is 23, an instructor at Camp Half-Blood, and is pretty sure he knows just about everything a demigod can know about the afterlife. Then he dies and wakes up in a world where the Mafia use rainbow fire. That's pretty damn weird, even for demigod standards.


"Someone has to leave first. This is an old story. There is no other version of this story." - Richard Siken, The Worm King's Lullaby.

Nico di Angelo does not expect to wake up. He knows how death works, that whether you go violently or not you do not wake up from death.

You don't wake up in your old body, you don't wake up with your memory intact.

So when Nico di Angelo decides to die he does so with a grin on his face, with blood on his lips and his father's genius -madness- leaking into his eyes.

He dies with a laugh on his lips as he takes as many monsters with him as he can.

(Later, they will say that a legion of dead soldiers rose to fight for him, they will say that then the area was covered in a darkness so vast that nothing could pierce it.

They will say that the Son of Hades died a hero.

Yet those who fought with him will know that is no such thing as a hero.

At least, not for long.)

* * *

Fon wakes up to the flash of Sky Flames near his hotel room and instantly has to reign in his own Flames to keep them from reaching out and blending with the Sky Flames that are so close Fon can almost taste them.

Vaguely, Fon wonders what it would be like to harmonize with those Flames that are so strong, so pure, but with an undercurrent of suffering that reminds Fon of the night. Fon's Storm Flames are all but screaming at him, telling him that there is a Sky that is hurting and that he needs to go and help, and guard and-

Before he knows what he's doing he gets up, hurriedly throws on his clothes and leaves his hotel room.

He's halfway down the block, heading toward the source of the Sky Flames when he asks himself what he's doing. Doubtlessly the Sky that he's heading toward wouldn't take kindly to a stranger walking up and introducing themselves. Especially if it's a Sky that hasn't harmonized with anyone. Skies that haven't harmonized with someone and know that they are Skies tend to be suspicious of other Flame users, always on guard to see if the person is using them just to harmonize with them.

Tsuna hadn't been like that, but Tsuna hadn't been raised in the Mafia.

Something nags at Fon though, and when Fon reaches out with his Flames again to find the Sky Flames he had felt before he notices something he hadn't before.

The Flames are untamed, lacking the finesse of someone who has been trained in their use they fill the area blindly.

Fon increases his pace, if there is an untrained Sky in the city, a Sky strong enough to make Fon want to harmonize with them then it's likely that other mafioso's have already felt them and are on the way.

Fon is many things, a murderer among them, but he's not about to let an untrained Sky be dragged into the mafia without their consent.

So Fon picks up his paces, and nearly breathes a sigh of relief when he discovers the Sky, alone, bleeding from various wounds on his body, but alive.

Footsteps approach Fon from behind and he flares his Flames in warning.

A voice behind him chuckles, and Fon almost relaxes when he recognizes the voice as Reborn's.

"Nervous are we?" Reborn asks, coming to a stop beside Fon, and eyeing the Sky critically, "He doesn't look like much does he?"

The Sky doesn't look like much, he's too thin for one, with skin so pale it looks deathly, his clothes are torn, ripped to shreds by what looks to be claws or, in some cases, well aimed sword wounds.

"Will you heal him?" Fon asks, ignoring the urging of his Flames that want him to harmonize with the wounded Sky right now.

Reborn raises an eyebrow, but moves to do as asked while Fon stands guard.

* * *

Reborn kneels down next to his newfound patient and carefully, as to not give into the urge to try and harmonize with the Sky that is right next to him, Reborn reaches out with both his hands and his Sun Flames and-

He almost gasps when the Sky Flames, strong and pure and something in Reborn's mind is telling him that they're his to guard and protect, latch onto his Sun Flames.

Then Reborn feels the Sky's suffering and Reborn should know better than to try and harmonize with a Sky that might not make it through the night.

But the Sky is hurting and Reborn, Reborn who usually has such control over his Flames lets go for one second.

That's all it takes for the harmonization process to start.

Reborn curses, and yanks his hands backward, cursing again as his Flames all but purr in contentment as they begin to blend with the Sky Flames originating from the man next to him.

The wounds on the man's body are healing he knows, the affects of being newly harmonized with a Sun already taking place.

Reborn meets Fon's eyes, and is almost surprised at the fury he finds there.

"We should take him some place else." Fon suggests.

Reborn doesn't argue, just scoops up the Sky and and leads Fon to the safehouse he had been staying at.

* * *

Nico wakes up to the sound of hushed voices.

Voices that he doesn't recognize.

Instead of jumping up from his spot on the bed he takes the time to take stock of his situation. Because honestly, the last thing he remembers is dying; and for all that he's the Son of Hades he's fairly certain that he doesn't get free pass from death. Not only would Thanatos freak out, but the rest of the pantheon would too.

So Nico, takes stock of his surroundings, he's on a bed. A rather nice one if the comforter is anything to go by, and his wounds are all healed. Which means one of two things, either he was out long enough for his wounds to heal naturally or he was given ambrosia.

Given the fact that he knows the voices of the two people in the room are voices that don't belong to anyone in the Apollo Cabin and that they're speaking in Italian he's going to go out on a limb and say that he isn't at Camp.

Which leaves the possibility that he's been taken in by mortals. Italian speaking mortals that, hopefully, live in New York and haven't kidnapped him.

Which means he's going to have to use the Mist and convince them to let him leave and forget the fact they found him dying.

Awkward.

At least he thinks it's going to be until a voice, velvet smooth and definitely masculine calls out:

"We know you're awake."


End file.
